Painting Charlie
by dreamfandomist
Summary: Young William Bates does a painting. Charlie does some dancing. And Elsie can't stop laughing! Charles and Elsie spend some time with young William Bates (son of John and Anna Bates)


**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and I certainly do not make any economic benefit out of them. **

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Elsie placed her weekly shopping on the floor near the hat stand and removed her coat followed by her hat pin and hat. Placing the hat on the hat stand, she draped her coat over one arm and bent down to pick up her shopping back again. She was puzzled as to why Charles hadn't come to the door to help her with her coat and her hat, a soft whimper escaping her as she rose back to her full height. Her back wasn't what it was a decade ago. It was usual for Charles to help her when he heard her walk in through the door. It had gradually become an unspoken custom between the two of them. Usually followed by a sweet kiss or two.

Hearing sounds of what seemed to be similar to someone giggling, Elsie softly stepped into the living room of their cottage, trying to make little noise with her heels striking the floor. She couldn't help but laugh out loud when she witnessed the sight before her. One she knew, she would, and could, never forget.

Charles was sitting on the floor with little William Bates. Half sprawled, to be more accurate and the young boy was sitting cross legged in front of him in line with his face. In between them lay a half painted picture, now forgotten along with little bottles of paint accompanied by a cracked plate for an easel, and the young boy had instead taken to painting Charles' face. His little fingers curled tightly around the paint brush giggling at the outcome brought on by each of his brush strokes, and occasionally his brow furrowed in concentration as he smeared paint on Charles' face.

Charles' forehead was painted a bright green. His cheeks a deep blue along with some yellow, and brown was on his eyelids. But what made it impossible for Elsie to contain her mirth was his nose, now painted a brilliant red. Young William's hands were covered in paint and a couple of adorable spots of paint were smudged on his cheeks. A bit of his blond hair was covered in brown on the left close to his forehead.

Seeing Elsie and hearing her laugh, Charles craned his neck upwards to look at her. A sudden cough overtaking him as he spluttered in embarrassment. He tried to scramble onto his feet but his attempt was not successful and only added to the hilarity of the situation eliciting a fresh bout of laughter from Elsie and several more giggles from young William.

"What have we got here William," Elsie asked as she placed her shopping on a corner of the coffee table and dropped her coat on a chair. She could sort them out later. For now she didn't want to miss a single second of this moment.

"Drawing Mrs Carson," young William smiled innocently and sweetly at her.

Charles remained quiet for the moment, mortified that Elsie had seen him like this. He didn't expect her to be this early (not if Mr Bakewell, the grocer, started a conversation) and he had allowed the little boy to indulge intending to wash it all off before Elsie arrived.

"Oh how lovely! So you are painting Mr Carson?" she inquired biting her lip to avoid giggling and to maintain a mock serious expression, as she sat down on a chair facing Charles and young William. The little boy giggled in reply.

"My, my! Mr Carson looks like one of those actors on stage!" Elsie giggled and Charles frowned at her. His impressive eyebrows still visible despite the paint surrounding them.

"Elsie!" he protested against her teasing, though he knew fully well that Elsie wasn't one to easily stop when she started teasing him. That was something that almost never changed.

"Perhaps William we could ask Mr Carson to juggle for us and if he would be so kind enough he would do a little dance to go with it all," she added and Charles sat up, frowning and crossing his arms in front of him. Almost looking like a petulant child himself. His expression making Elsie giggle again.

"Dance Mr Carson?" the young boy requested enthusiastically. "Please?"

Charles huffed in frustration. "I hold you responsible for this Elsie!" He raised an accusatory finger at her, while his arms still remained crossed.

"What? Why me?" Elsie asked between giggles. "You are the one who got your face painted as if you were up in the theatre. You pull it off quite well my dear, honestly," Elsie added knowing well that any mention of his theatrical past annoyed Charles. But she knew, it would annoy him, not make him angry as in the past.

"Please Mr Carson?" young William Bates pleaded again, his eyes wide and shining with excitement.

"Oh alright, alright," Charles sighed knowing well that arguing was pointless. Elsie would only keep pushing him more till he yielded. "But without the paint!" he added quickly, his eyebrows raised in fear. He could juggle and perhaps even do a little jig, but he wasn't sure whether he was ready for the entire humiliating package with his face painted as well.

"What do you say William?" Elsie questioned the young boy, feeling the need to drag the moment as much as was possible. She was enjoying herself immensely seeing her Charlie this carefree in the presence of the young boy.

"With paint!" the little boy answered with a clap of his hand making Charles sigh in exasperation.

"You young man," Charles bent his head down a little to look young William Bates in the eye and then at Elsie with her sparkling eyes and cheeky smile, "and this lovely lady would have to learn to make compromises."

Elsie raised an eyebrow at him but allowed a beaming smile on her face.

"It's either juggling without paint or nothing at all. The choice is yours," Charles added with a smirk and rose to his feet after a little bit of scrambling and reached his hand into his pocket for a handkerchief.

"Without paint then. But don't you dare wipe that off with your handkerchief Mr Carson!" Elsie warned. After all, she was the one who did the laundry and sometime getting paint out of handkerchiefs were a nightmare. Especially after a day of baby-sitting young William.

Charles grunted and made his way into the kitchen to wash off the work of young master William Bates. Elsie beckoned the little boy closer to her and he crawled the few steps towards her chair, too lazy and a tad bit too tired to get up.

Charles returned from the kitchen, wiping his now clean hands on a dish cloth. Dropping the cloth on to the arm rest of a chair he stepped towards the shopping and rummaged through the bags.

"Charlie?" Elsie asked, not sure what he was looking for.

"You bought oranges didn't you?"

"Yes…" Elsie answered, puzzled. The sound trailing off her reply.

"Ah got them," he turned towards Elsie and young William with four oranges in his hands and a triumphant expression on his face. He walked to the centre of the room and balanced all four oranges in one of his large hands.

Tipping an imaginary hat he announced with a wink at the young boy, "Ladies and gentlemen!"

"Presenting the Cheerful Charlie?" Elsie asked between giggles, raising a hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle them.

Charles mimed throwing an orange at his wife. Elsie turned to a side, expecting an orange to come shooting in her way and when the force she expected did not collide anywhere on her body and the absence of the thud had it landed elsewhere caused her to looked back at her husband, puzzled. Elsie scowled at him when she saw him standing exactly where he was with all four oranges still with him and a victorious and contented look all across his face.

"You have been warned madam," Charles raised an eyebrow at her and tossed an orange to his right hand, earning another scowl from Elsie.

With a quick bow to his audience, Charles tossed one orange after the other into the air and in a couple of seconds he was juggling them in perfect and practised motions. Little William clapped loudly and excitedly. Elsie joined in and a bright smile appeared on Charles' face.

"Dance… and Dance Mr Carson?" William urged and Charles chuckled.

"Go on Charlie!" Elsie joined in the young boy's plea and with a swift motion Charles began a quick tap dance, slowly at places and picking up pace at others. As a final cherry on top of the cake, he whistled a merry tune and young William stared spell bound. Elsie had her hands clasped beneath her chin and a wide smile upon her lips. She had never seen Charlie do this. An occasional juggle was all she's seen him do, but this made him look more adorable, lovely and above all wonderful to her. She smiled inside to herself knowing that this is a glimpse of _her Charlie _that other's saw very little of and most often, didn't see at all. She felt rather proud and privileged to see and know this side to her husband. The man she fell in love with.

With a flourish of his hand, he let all oranges into the air and artfully caught them in his two hands and bowed to his audience of two, earning a very loud round of applause, an excited series of laughs from young William Bates and a hearty cheer of 'well done' and 'bravo' from his wife.

Elsie quickly rose to her feet and stepped to Charlie's side, standing on tip toes placed a thorough kiss on his cheek and to say that Charles blushed was an understatement. The exercise and the attention was making him to positive glow, his cheeks a bright red.

William Bates stood up from his place on the floor and dashed towards Charles. Tugging at Charles' hand the little boy pleaded, "Again Mr Carson! Again!"

"That is quite enough for one day young man," Charles chuckled and ruffled the young boy's blond hair.

"How about we get you cleaned up now, hmm? You look quite a mess m'lad," Elsie stroked the young boy's head but he sulked in response, clearly expressing his disagreement.

"Go on! Into the kitchen to clean those little hands of yours. Or Mrs Carson won't give you any cake for your tea!" Charles' mention of cake was enough to bring a smile to the young boy's face. He rushed towards the kitchen.

"William!" Charles called after the young boy, quite flustered. When young William turned back to face him, Charles beckoned him closer. The young boy skipped towards Charles in a few steps and stood before him.

"Don't you dare breathe a word about this to your mum or dad, young sir!" Charles stood to his full height and frowned down at the young boy to bring on the desired effect. However, Charles was left to question its effectiveness when the little boy chuckled, nodded and dashed towards the kitchen.

"Chance would be a fine thing Charlie," Elsie said and burst into fits of laughter causing Charles' eyebrows to rise almost up to his hairline with a frightened expression on his face, in turn causing Elsie to burst into a fresh bout of laughter.

**The End. **

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**This was a quick idea that popped into my mind after I watched the movie and saw Anna's and John's son. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have him spending time with the Carsons and I really enjoy writing about Charles and Elsie with the children. Hope you enjoyed! I would be very grateful if you could let me know your thoughts about this story in the reviews! See you soon! **


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